


boom, clap (the sound of my heart)

by Anonymous



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-02-04 10:25:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18602632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: “And oh- that’s it. Brad isn’t worried about whether or not Bergy likes the decorations. He’s worried about if the kids will like them. And it should have been obvious to Patrice the whole day, he feels like an idiot really because it’s Brad’s first day of teaching tomorrow, of course he’s nervous.”





	boom, clap (the sound of my heart)

Patrice had been kind of glad to hear that Stanfield was retiring. His counterpart was getting old, and it was clear that he was tired of the kid’s antics. The always calm man had broken a clipboard in two while yelling at a group of fifth graders for talking during their performance. It was clear that his career was ready to come to an end.

 

Patrice hadn’t been on the interview team for the new music teacher, still being a little too green to have that kind of authority in the school. Susan Evans, a first grade teacher, had filled him in saying that the guy they hired was fresh as could be, having just completed his student teaching at a high school.

 

“And he thinks he can handle the switch to elementary school?” Patrice had asked.

 

“He sure seems excited to try.”

 

.

 

The teacher work days before school started were always incredibly boring. If Patrice’s contract hadn’t stated in no uncertain terms that he was required to be there, he would still be outside enjoying the summer air.

 

With no classroom to set up, he neatly arranged his things at his desk in his tiny “office” that used to be a closet, and proceeded to turn on Netflix.

 

It was 8:30, an hour into their contracted time when a new face poked into his office.

 

“Hey, I’m uh Brad Marchand, the new music teacher.”

 

This guy had clearly not gotten the memo that workdays were not dress code days. Most teachers showed up in shorts and flip flops, relishing the last days of exposed legs and feet that they were afforded (it made Patrice thankful, not for the first time, that his chosen profession required him only to wear athletic shorts and t-shirts every day). Marchand was wearing khaki pants, a blue button up, and loafers.

 

“Nice to meet you. Patrice Bergeron, but you can call me Bergy, most of the teachers do. I’m the physical education teacher.”

 

“Yeah, I know, everyone kind of um-“ Brad cuts off, making a vague circling gesture with his right hand.

 

“Groups us together?”

 

“Yeah it’s kinda funny like, music and gym seem like the two most different classes, but here they’re just kinda the same.”

 

“It’s a mixture of the whole scheduling thing, and everyone thinking that what we teach isn’t important.”

 

Brad shrugs, “Yeah well, gym used to always be my second favorite class. Behind music of course.”

 

Patrice smiles at that, leaning back in his chair.

 

Brad says, “Oh, yeah, I actually came to find you because apparently most of the music supplies are locked in some storage closet? And apparently you have a key.”

Patrice pulls out a key ring with a few dozen keys (being the gym teacher definitely comes with perks), “Know which storage closet you need?”

 

Brad blushes, bright red, “Um, no, not really, the people at the office weren’t sure. But I’m sure I can figure it out, and I can get the keys back to you as soon as-“

 

Patrice waves away the idea, standing up and saying, “Nah, it’s cool, I’m not doing anything. Let’s go figure this out.”

 

.

 

It’s the fourth storage closet they try that ends up being the right one. Brad had kept a near constant stream of apologies going during the 30 minute long process.

 

There’s three large boxes that need to be carried to Brad’s classroom, and Bergy grabs two despite Brad’s protests.

 

“You can get the doors, yeah. ‘sides, your class is only a hallway down.”

 

When they get to Brad’s classroom, Bergy can already tell a difference from when Stanfield was there.

 

“Wow man, you’ve been working,” Patrice says, looking at the walls.

 

Stanfield had always had his walls covered with those silly posters you can buy from teacher magazines 6 for $10 with saying about respect and effort. Brad seems to have divided his room into six color themes. There’s foot wide colored construction paper circles hanging on the walls in patches, and Patrice spots a few bags on the floor that seem to contain even more.

 

Brad scratches his neck, seeming embarrassed, “Yeah, I, uh, kinda got here early. I needed a break from circles though, can’t do one thing for too long, ya know? So, I thought I’d set up some of the other supplies. Thanks for helping me by the way, you really didn’t have to.”

 

“Oh no big deal, man. Want some help with those circles?” Bergy asks.

 

“No it’s fine I’ve got it, I don’t need to take up any more of your time.”

 

“Dude. I’m literally sitting around all day. Don’t exactly have a classroom to set up, do I?”

 

Not waiting for an answer, Patrice picks up the ball of sticky tack and rolls some out to put up another circle. Brad looks vaguely upset with what the events that have transpired, but seems to resign himself to his fate. He unloads whatever’s in the boxes while Patrice hangs up circles.

 

They work in silence for a bit before Brad unloads a small speaker from one of the boxes. He plugs it in and connects his phone. Patrice doesn’t recognize a single song that plays, but he likes them all.

 

It’s some of the most fun he’s had on a workday in a while.

 

.

 

At noon, Susan finds them working away.

 

She smiles at Patrice warmly when she realizes he’s in the room, “Bergy, hey! Sweet of you to be helping out the new guy. A couple of us were going to offer to take him out for lunch, want in?”

 

“Yeah sure, sounds nice,” Patrice says, ignoring the leftovers he has sitting in his mini fridge downstairs.

 

“We can leave for lunch?” Brad asks, eyebrows raised.

 

Susan laughs, “Do you see any students around that’ll miss us while we’re gone? It’s fine as long as we’re back by one. Now come on, it’s your pick- Mexican or barbecue.”

 

Twenty minutes later and Patrice is gladly munching on cheese dip and chips while the other teachers interrogate Brad. Patrice genuinely likes Mrs. Evans and her crowd, but there is a reason he doesn’t normally eat lunch with them- they’re nosy. With Brad as a distraction though, Patrice can eat without being asked about his love life repeatedly.

 

“So… Is there a Mrs. Marchand?” asks Kathy, a third grade teacher.

 

“Uh no,” Brad says, looking unsure.

 

“A Mrs. to be then? A girlfriend?” Jane, whose wedding Bergy had attended this summer (and somewhat regretted because most of the teachers had only wanted to talk about the fact that he had not brought a date).

 

“No, um no girls,” Brad says before blushing beet red.

 

“Oh,” Susan says with a shit eating grin and Bergy knows what’s coming before she even says it, and has half a mind to bolt from the table right then, “Well then maybe you and Bergy should spend some more time together.”

 

“Susan.” Patrice admonishes.

 

“What Patrice? I’m just saying,” she says then turns back to Brad, “Bergy’s been single for a while now. And his last boyfriend? Let’s just say I wasn’t a fan.”

 

“Susan!”

 

“Fine, fine, I’ll lay off.”

 

Patrice looks over at Brad, flashing him an apologetic smile. Brad smiles back, ducking his head for a second before bringing his eyes up to meet Bergy’s again. And well, Susan might have good taste because Brad is definitely not unattractive.

 

Patrice quickly pushes the thought out of his head, and luckily the food arrives at that moment, so he can focus on his enchiladas, and the gossip crew have their mouths too full to interrogate Brad further.

 

Apparently “taking the new guy out for lunch” actually translated to going out for lunch and bullying Bergy into paying for the new guy’s meal too. When Susan drops them back off at Brad’s classroom, Brad immediately pulls out his wallet and tries to pay Bergy back.

 

“Oh keep it, it’s no big deal. You can get me the next time,” Bergy says and the words fall out of his mouth before he realizes the weight of them.

 

Brad just beams though, “Yeah for sure! Next time!”

Patrice goes back to hanging circles, pushing away all the thoughts of “next time” that threaten to sink a little too close to his heart.

 

It’s about two when Brad seems to finally get all of stuff organized and set up the way he wants. He goes next to Patrice to help him hang up the last of the purple circles.

 

“You probably think the color thing is silly.”

 

Patrice reels back, wondering what he could have done to have given Brad that impression, “No?”

 

“I know it’s a little much. I just- I like it. And I ran it by my niece and nephew- they’re 6 and 9- and they approved. I want the kids to like my classroom.”

 

And oh- that’s it. Brad isn’t worried about whether or not _Bergy_ likes the decorations. He’s worried about if the kids will like them. And it should have been obvious to Patrice the whole day, he feels like an idiot really because it’s Brad’s first day of teaching tomorrow, of course he’s nervous.

 

“They’ll like your classroom. I promise. I wouldn’t have spent all day hanging these circles if I thought they wouldn’t,” Patrice teases, then catches Brad by the shoulder to look him in the eye, “and they’ll like _you_ too. And if they don’t, I’ll make them run so many laps the next day, they’ll wish they had music every day.”

 

Brad still looks a bit misty eyed, “It’s elementary school. They don’t run laps.”

 

“Okay, no, they don’t. But I could come up with something, I’m sure.”

 

Brad nods once, tersely, so Bergy continues “Hey, I promise, yeah? And it’s only a two day week. So, if the first two days really suck that bad, you can go drink until you black out on Friday night.”

 

That finally gets Brad to crack a smile, “Yeah, you wanna come with?”

 

Bergy nods, “Pretty sure I could get enough material to ensure I could blackmail you for the rest of your career here.”

 

Brad laughs, and an easy silence settles over them as they meticulously hang the last of the circles.

 

After Bergy hangs his last circle, he plops down in the middle of the carpet, looking up at Brad.

 

“So what’s the lesson plan for tomorrow?”

 

“Introductions, and I found a game where they like, sing their names to different patterns.”

 

“Ah, classic.”

 

Brad sits down across from Bergy, leaning against a wall, “Is it like weird then, to only have the students every other day?”

 

“Oh nah, you get used to it. There’s some kids you wish you had all day every day, but you adjust. It’s nice to mix it up.”

 

“Fridays though…”

 

“Yeah, Fridays are tough. The kids hate weeks where they have to have the same class two days in a row, and you always end up having one set of classes that you see way less often because of all the Fridays off school and whatever.”

 

Brad nods, seeming to mull that over, “Well, I was thinking and- I mean we don’t have to, I know you have your whole system, but I just thought it might be nice, but again like I won’t mind if you say no-“

 

Patrice can’t help the soft laugh that escapes his mouth, “Spit it out, yeah?”

 

“I was thinking it might be nice if we just combined the classes on Fridays. The principal said you already do it sometimes, and like, it’s always kindergartens with kindergartens, first with first, and so on, so it’d work out right? And I’m sure we could find a way to make it match both of our standards. I have to teach like, rhythm yeah? And that almost always means movement and dance which I bet fits something you have and- I don’t know. I just thought it might be nice.”

 

It’s clear that Brad had thought about this extensively. While it is technically true, that music and gym did combine classes sometimes, it was only ever like once a school year when they had to have combined practices for their music programs or the reciprocating days when Bergy got to have them to make up the time. But well, it might be nice. And Brad seemed determined to find a way to meet both their standards, so there was really no reason to say no.

 

“Sounds nice. Maybe we can get together this weekend and work it out? Present it to admin on Monday? I’m sure they’ll be cool with it though, they pretty much let us do whatever as long as we’re meeting standards.”

 

Brad beams, and in his smile there’s a thousand stars. Bergy can’t help but to smile back.

**Author's Note:**

> So….. I think this is going to have multiple chapters. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be two more chapters, and I have it laid out what I want for those chapters, basically. I am kind of in love with this AU even though it snuck up on me, and I ended up writing this whole thing in like two hours and then editing it during intermissions of tonight’s game (which was a good distraction from how nervous I was). While the one isn’t technically gifted to Alex, it is (as always) dedicated to him, and this time also to @transmarchand on Tumblr for cheering me on aha. For the rest of y’all, free to follow me @abellyofjelly . Okay, this is by far the longest author’s note I’ve ever written, so I’m going to shut up now. So, thanks for reading!!!
> 
>  
> 
> ((Also... why did I pick Stanfield to be the old music teacher? I have literally no clue, he just popped into my brain first.))


End file.
